The Scientist - Home

Graphic: Cathleen Heard The pharmaceutical industry instantly took note when the federal government granted U.S. patent number 6,048,850 to the University of Rochester on April 11, 2000. The patent for "Method of inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis in a human host," described as "broad," "dominant," and "blocking" in the lexicon of the patent attorney, had a distinct everything-but-the-kitchen sink flavor about it. The patent covers inhibitors of the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) that include n

How can members of Congress find out what they're getting for all the money they appropriate for biomedical research? Ten years ago, former Democratic Maine representative Peter Kyros and his associate Belle Cummins, along with Rep. George W. Gekas (R-Pa.), came up with an inspired answer: a command performance biomedical seminar program featuring a who's who list of scientists as invited speakers. On March 29, invited speaker Harold Varmus, former director of the National Institutes of Health,

Harold Varmus Harold Varmus left the directorship of the National Institutes of Health last January to head Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. But he didn't leave his strong opinions behind in Bethesda, Md. At a media forum sponsored by Syracuse University in New York on May 1, he discussed some volatile issues in biomedical research: On genome sequencing: Though the finishing line is arbitrary, "There is a point in the minds of most scientists when they say, 'OK, I think I kno

HGP Enters Final Phase: Even as the Human Genome Project (HGP) enters its final phase, which officially began May 9, perhaps the most fundamental bit of genomic trivia persists: Exactly how many human genes are there? At the 13th annual Cold Spring Harbor Meeting on Genome Sequencing and Biology held May 10, scientists marveled at the astounding acceleration of sequencing efforts in the last year. Participants, including all 16 leaders of the HGP sequencing centers, enjoyed the most recent seque

Courtesy of Media Services, Yale School of Medicine Left, a stained section of spontaneous lung metastasis showing normal lung tissue adjacent to melanoma tissue. Arrows delineate melanoma composed predominantly of melanin-containing cells. Right, cultured cells from spontaneous lung metastasis. Metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from primary tumor to new sites, often prevents successful cancer treatment. But how or why certain cells detach from a tumor, travel to distant locations in the bo

You can't confuse the dot-com revolution with biotech and its stock options," says Edward Abrahams, executive director of the Pennsylvania Biotech Association. "Biotech has much longer lead times to profitability and it's risky business--rooted in the transformation of the [National Institutes of Health] economy," he says. "Scientists shouldn't be in biotech just for the stock. The motivation has to be discovery and creating something--the process of making a contribution for the betterment of

Photo: Myrna E. WatanabeBoston University's "MobileLab," a bus outfitted with biotech lab equipment, visited the Connecticut state capitol in Hartford May 1, the day Connecticut United for Research Excellence announced plans for a like vehicle called "Connecticut's BioBus." In 1999, the U.S. biotechnology industry employed 153,000 people, up 48.5 percent from 1995, according to Ernst & Young. In the state of Connecticut alone, total bioscience (biotech and pharmaceutical) R&D expenditures equal

In the aftermath of 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger's death last September during a University of Pennsylvania gene therapy trial, intensified regulation of such studies will be a major topic at the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) annual meeting, May 31-June 4 in Denver. "I think the important thing is to really keep focus," says society president Savio L. Woo, director of the Institute for Gene Therapy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "Medical research is a risky business, and we can't

Congress Revisits Stem Cell Issue As Congress begins a new session, the topic of stem cell research is once again on the agenda. Yet the short session and the issue's contentiousness make new legislation in 2000 unlikely. At an April 25 congressional briefing, scientists gave an update on stem cell research and applications in advance of an April 26 hearing. The briefing also reintroduced the stem cell research guidelines presented last fall by the American Association for the Advancement of Sc

In the aftermath of 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger's death last September during a University of Pennsylvania gene therapy trial, intensified regulation of such studies will be a major topic at the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) annual meeting, May 31-June 4 in Denver. "I think the important thing is to really keep focus," says society president Savio L. Woo, director of the Institute for Gene Therapy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "Medical research is a risky business, and we can't

Institutional review boards (IRBs)--whether independent or located at hospitals, academic health centers, or universities--have an imposing charge: They must sift through and analyze a profusion of clinical research trials to ensure that participating human subjects will be treated ethically and without undue risk. But for a variety of reasons, many IRBs aren't getting the job done--this according to an April report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) in the U.S. Department of Health and

When the federal Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR) ordered Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to halt all human subject research in January, it was another punitive measure in that agency's 14-month-long series of actions that sent a clear message to the research community: Researchers spending federal tax dollars should diligently consider ethics in their work. This particular case, however, especially troubled genetics researchers. It involved the father of a research